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People develop their own content and are more than happy to share. As long as you give credit where credit is due. Which, I feel, is completely understandable and fair.The issue of stealing content is prevalent throughout the internet, and especially in social media, because it is hard to catch when people steal your stuff. You may never even see it. I have seen even large companies get called out for stealing an individual’s content. Usually an apology is issued but that doesn’t make it right. It is probably safe to say that hundreds of people steal content regularly.On one hand it is difficult to always attribute where you got a photo and there is a good chance that it has already been stolen from somewhere else.On the other hand just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean that it is something that you should do as well. If you choose to share a tweet or content from someone say “via @” so and so. If you share a piece of content from a share on Facebook, tag that company or individual in it. You are building relationships and the person or company whose content you are sharing will appreciate it.

I worked with a Social Media Marketing firm as an independent contractor and the owner told me to go to specific accounts and just directly steal their tweets and then schedule them as our own. This included photos, links, hashtags… everything. This individual also told me to stop adding the “via @” in any tweets. It didn’t matter. They wanted me to just steal content and schedule it for their clients. These clients were paying for custom content. This is fraud. This is not acceptable practice. If your client is paying for individual content creation and you are even using the same exact quotes, photos and posts for multiple accounts because it is faster and easier for you to do – you are doing this wrong and you are giving the industry a bad name.

Share content regularly! It is somewhat insane to really believe with how much information is out there that you will be able to offer everything your audience or client’s want personally… but be generous with giving credit. That will build relationships. That will result in appreciation and remembrance. People are more likely to share your content when you share theirs. Work together not against one another!Remember… you learned in kindergarten to share – not to steal.